Saskatchewan woman, 62, survives for eight days in wilderness after canoe accident killed her husband

Four men on a fishing trip to northern Saskatchewan found the body of a missing canoeist, a discovery that led to the rescue of the deceased’s 62-year-old wife, who survived alone in the wilderness with no supplies for eight days.

The couple’s son reported them missing on Aug. 20 after he stopped getting updates from a satellite tracking device the two experienced campers carried with them on a Churchill River canoe trip. On Tuesday morning, the man’s body was found near an overturned canoe in Kinosaskaw Lake; about 10 hours later, a rescue plane spotted his wife, alive and in good health, on a shore upriver.

The Prince Albert Daily Herald identified 66-year-old David Dice — a well-known member of the P.A. community — as the man who died and Enid Dice as the survivor, names which were later confirmed by Postmedia News. David was a retired teacher and celebrated track and field coach at Carlton Comprehensive High School and at the national level.

The couple had just started a trip on the Churchill River when their canoe capsized at the first set of rapids leading to Kinosaskaw Lake. They were separated as the man floated downstream. Five days after they were reported missing, an RCMP-led search failed to find any sign of them.

Shellbrook resident Jim Naber, his two sons and a friend had just set their boat in Kinosaskaw Lake when they spotted an overturned canoe in an eddy past a set of rapids known as Needle Falls.

“We started looking around the canoe and found some things and then found a body floating in the water,” Naber said in a phone interview.

“He was about 20 yards from the canoe. He went down with the ship.”

They called 911 with a satellite phone and RCMP arrived in a chartered float plane shortly before 2 p.m. Officers identified the man as the missing canoeist and called the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association to help find his missing wife.

A fixed-wing rescue plane flew over the area several hours later and found a woman on a nearby shoreline at the mouth of the rapids, waving and standing beside a fire. RCMP returned with a chartered float plane, landed, secured the woman for transport and flew her to hospital in La Ronge. She was treated and released.

RCMP spokeswoman Mandy Maier said the woman didn’t have any supplies with her.

“She had survived eight days out in the wilderness using her extensive experience. So, it was a pretty phenomenal story,” Maier told reporters in Regina.

An outfitter with knowledge of the area said the rapids aren’t considered challenging for experienced canoeists, but risks are always present no matter one’s skill level and anything can happen on the water.

Dice is well known in Saskatchewan and across Canada for his involvement in athletics. In 2003, he was inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame.

“There were a lot of years left in him and it’s a tragic loss for the Prince Albert community,” said Bob Reindl, executive director of Saskatchewan Athletics.

“He was a great guy. He was well liked and always willing to give up his time to help.”

Dice was also a passionate outdoorsman who loved canoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing and travelling. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1970, taught chemistry and served as head of the science department at the high school.